Image Credit: Danny Feld/ABCModern Family co-creator Steve Levitan wants ABC to remove episodes of the Emmy-nominated comedy from Hulu and ABC.com so that the Nielsen ratings might better reflect how many people are actually watching the show. Levitan told reporters at TCA, the annual gathering of the nation’s TV critics, that he’s unsuccessfully lobbied Disney-ABC TV Group president Anne Sweeney to make Modern Family a test study. “We’re making it far too easy to watch it on other mediums and not getting proper credit for it. If we weren’t on Hulu and ABC.com, why don’t we try that?” The Hollywood Reporter quotes Levitan as saying. He believes Modern Family, which he estimates gets another 2 million views online each week (Hulu does not release numbers), could be a Top 3 show if people had to watch it on TV. “The idea isn’t to remove ways for viewers to find the show,” he added, “but to see what [would happen to the ratings].”
I’m torn: I’ll admit that it’s jarring to see that Modern Family, which garnered 14 Emmy noms, averaged only 9.5 million viewers its freshman year (which placed it down in the thirties for the TV season). And I’m sure bigger numbers would make it easier for ABC to justify special episodes like the trip to Hawaii — and who doesn’t want to see more family vacations? But 1) I’m just not sure all the people watching Modern Family online are watching it for the first time — I headed to Hulu most morning-afters to rewatch scenes in the office. And 2) I’d really hate not to be able to do that. Especially when season 2 storylines are expected to include an earthquake, Cameron and Mitchell contemplating whether to expand their family, and some of the characters getting caught up in a flash mob/dance sequence in a public place.
Yes, whether a show is viewable online the morning-after does factor into my decision about whether or not I watch or record it in its regular time slot — but only when there’s a TV traffic jam. Is Wednesday at 9 p.m. so busy that you had to resort to watching Modern Family online? The only time slots that I found routinely excruciating last season were Thursdays at 8 p.m. (I recapped Bones and The Vampire Diaries, which meant I had to catch Parks and Recreation on Hulu) and Tuesdays at 10 p.m. (when I would watch The Good Wife and Justified and leave Parenthood for Hulu, until I realized FX was kind enough to repeat Justified at 11 p.m. and 1 a.m., which meant I could record all three shows that night.) FX and USA will make Hulu wait eight days to post episodes of some shows online, which is frustrating as a writer who wants to embed scenes from them in timely posts, but makes sense because the cable channels repeat those episodes that week and want to catch more viewers that way. How would you feel about Modern Family going offline completely, or episodes being available eight days after they air?
Watching it online is how I originally discovered what a gem Modern Family is. Because of that I watch it weekly on ABC.
They need to find a way to count on-line views accurately and incorporate that data into the ratings.
It is very easy to count online viewers, and alot more accurate then Nielsen (which is an estimate). I don’t see why Hulu does not release the numbers, unless ABC does not want to pay the Prodcution team more.
I started watching it online too!
Ugh, I think removing Modern Family from Hulu is a terrible idea. I know a lot of people who still haven’t seen an episode yet, and forwarding them the Hulu links has been the quickest, easiest way to generate buzz for the show. It’s also worth mentioning that not everyone has access to a DVR.
Agreed. I frequently DVRed Modern Family and watched later because I wasnt home or because there was a game or American Idol episode that you wanted to watch immediately. If I could not DVR there are quite a few shows I would not see regularly.
I meant to say or DVR or Hulu. It makes great lunchtime office viewing.
You are totally right about not having access to DVRs. I’m a college student, without access to a dvr or a tv in my room, and it’s almost impossible to get the people in the campus center to change the channel…so online is pretty much the only way I get to see Modern Family (besides buying dvds)…Taking Modern Family off of hulu/ABC.com would be almost like it was cancelled for me…
I’m with you on that regard SeaDragon29 because I’m also a college student who takes full advantage of websites such as Hulu (and occasionally abc.com) to watch previously aired episodes of popular television shows because of my busy schedule with classes, work, social outings, and etc. I would be extremely disappointed if abc decided to pull Modern Family episodes from Hulu and their website.
agreed about being a college student and watching online. Watching tv online is the only way I can ever watch tv unless I find a friend who will let me come over at the same time ever week, which rarely happens. I watch all Modern Family episodes online and I have turned at least 3 friends onto the show by getting them to watch online with me. If they take it offline, I will probably never be able to watch it again.
I understand what he’s saying about ratings but instead of going with the old, why not embrace the new way we watch TV? Instead of making a study of how it does if they remove it offline, they should focus on the real problem: find a way to accurately record online viewership.
Exactly, Casey. Why is it so hard for studio execs to adapt to new media habits?
If Youtube is able to keep track of the number of times each of its videos are viewed then why can’t Hulu?
Hulu does. The don’t release viewership numbers though
Exactly Casey. The studios need to get with the times. There are ways to track how many times the show is views – Hulu is full of crap. I work until late and have to watch my shows on DVR or Internet. This is just not Nielsen Families sitting at home during Prime Time any longer.
Problem being that the network advertising money is tied up in on-air viewership. That’s why ratings matter. People who time-shift their TV viewing are also quite adept at skipping commercials — but commercial TV can’t pay for itself if we DON’T watch the commercials. So… the show makes money based on ratings. That’s the network’s bottom line. If you watch it elsewhere, it will not contribute to the advertising revenue, or at least not at the same level as watching it “captive” at the time of initial airing.
Once they can accurately determine online viewership, they can sell advertising based on it. This is the way it’s going to be, and the networks need to adapt. Watching shows online isn’t a fad that’s going to go away.
Or the whole system should be revamped to include the actual numbers. Sooo few people are part of the “numbers” that it would make sense to come up with a more accurate system to track who is watching.
You’ve got it exactly. Wake up execs! Adapt or go extinct. Online entertainment isn’t going away. In fact, the more I like a show, the more likely I’m going to watch and rewatch it online. When friends come over, this is what we watch. And when I go to a friend’s house, this is what we watch. In fact, I didn’t start watching shows like Bones and Lie to Me until I watched it on Netflix. Not only did I watch all the old seasons but I started watching the new seasons. Adapt.
“Wake up up execs! Adapt or go extinct.” That’s Awesome! Lol! I haven’t had a good belly laugh all day until I read your statement. But I would totally agree that the television executives should definitely get with the times.
One CLICK = one VIEWER why is this hard math
Exactly — I totally agree. We shouldn’t have to change viewing habits to conform to Nielsen ratings, which are, at best, outdated. The way ratings are tallied should shift to accurately track how people watch the show.
That being said, I think Hulu needs to start giving up numbers to content providers.
I personally don’t watch Modern Family much but I do watch most of my TV online and taking shows off the web wouldn’t cause me to watch them on my television. I watch them online because my work/school schedule is crazy and I don’t have access to a DVR at the moment. So it’s either watch the shows online or don’t watch them at all.
yeah, me too…MF is one of the best shows on tv/online…i’d hate to lose it…
I WOULD be interested in this experiment and to see how much “Modern Family” would rise in the ratings if I didn’t consider the Nielsen system to be totally outdated and mostly useless.
Then again, “Modern Family” is one of a handful of shows pretty much watch live every week, so I’m probably the wrong guy to ask.
Rather than remove the media from available sources, why not develop better methods of determining viewership USING these methods? I think if the show is unavailable online, they will lose viewers that can only view certain shows after their first run. Pity those who only have a dual-tuner DVR!!
Pity me whose cable company only allows one dvr per household due to low stock and high demand.
Because of the above I have to watch alot of shows online or not at all. I can only record one at a time and am not available most nights to watch shows live so hulu and like sites are the only way I get to see some show.
wow, never heard of this – can you say what cable company?
I find it odd that MODERN family wants to choose to be ARCHAIC!
LOL!
I disagree with his argument to take the episodes offline. As a college student, I don’t buy cable when I’m at school, so I can only watch tv shows online. Not being able to watch my favorite shows (including Modern Family) would be a sad, sad day.
What a dumb idea. I watch a lot of shows online when I have the time to catch up. It’s really time the Nielsen ratings system catch up, I don’t think it’s an accurate rating. They need to count everything, online, DVR etc. This is 2010. Not 1960.
I get his reasoning, but I think that ship has sailed.
And didn’t Gossip Girl try the same thing, only to not affect the ratings at all? I think now that it’s online, taking it off will only encourage online-only folks to download it illegally. I know a lot of starving students who forgo cable (which oftentimes, includes local stations, depending on where they live) and just get internet, and watch Hulu and Netflix.
This is why online viewing needs to be accompanied by more ads, in order to supplement the difference. As annoying as commercials are, it shouldn’t be nicer to watch shows online. A lot of folks watch online because they’ll only be bugged by a few ads, as opposed to several. Make the two indistinguishable. Ads are the price we pay for free TV. I think the least we can do is put up with them. For serious.
I am one of those aforementioned students. Every Friday during the school year, I watch the entire NBC Thursday night lineup online; ditto for Modern Family and a few USA Network shows, Ghost Hunters … and plenty of cartoons on Youtube. Please, Mr. Co-creater, don’t take my MF away from me.
I am a huge fan of having episodes available on-line. Yes, I watch the shows I enjoy when they actually air on TV as much as possible. But sometimes logjams occur (such as when I refused to miss “Lost” so I had to wait to see “Glee” the next day on Fox.com). And sometimes I actually have something else going on (meeting, vacation, late dinner) that means I’m not home to watch a show when it actually airs. (I’ve curse CBS every time I’ve had to miss “Big Bang Theory,” because CBS refuses to post whole episodes of that show.) It seems to me that if movie theaters can track and report movie income each weekend to determine the top-grossing movies, then TV networks should be able to track and report their web viewings, and viewings recorded within a certain timeframe (i.e., 2 days) should be included in a show’s ratings numbers. With all the technology that’s now available, continuing to have Americans’ viewing habits determined by a select 25,000 households seems incredibly antiquated.
ITA. I actually bought an antenna so I could record TBBT theory on my laptop (like a DVR) because of my Monday night conflicts and CBS’s refusal to post full episodes. At least if they had them online, they would know how many people are watching.
I’m not sure how it would work out for Modern Family (I personally always watch that one live), but I won’t be watching Big Bang Theory next season unless it is on-line (since it is up against Community). I’m sure there are one or two shows that everyone feels that way about.
I don’t have cable/dish, so I watch all TV online or through Netflix. The solution here doesn’t seem to be to take episodes offline, but to count viewings toward ratings whenever they’re watched, not just within 24 hours or whatever. Now that episodes being online or DVR has freed people from *having* to watch something at a certain time, I think we’re all used to watching when we want. I think that’s great.
Hey, here’s a crazy thought. Instead of trying to fix the broken system with band-aids, why don’t we toss out the flawed and out-dated Nielsen system and find another way to charge advertisers? I know, wacky, right?
The show is great, I like a lot of people wouldnt have discovered it if it wasnt online. So they probably wouldnt gain any new viewers if they took all episodes offline. Shouldnt they be lobbying Nielsen to include online views in the rating system. That makes more sense to me than screwing up potentially new viewers from discovering the show.